State governments shifted power from legislatures to executives and courts over time

Evidence

As the years went by, however, states soured on legislative supremacy. The governor typically gained a longer term of office, and the power to veto bills. In the federal government, the president had this power from the start. Judicial power, too, increased at the expense of the legislature. The most striking example was judicial review. This was the power of courts, to monitor and control the acts of other branches of government. Courts assumed, indeed, the right to declare these acts—​including statutes solemnly passed by the legislature—​to be absolutely null and void, if, in the judges’ opinion, the constitution had been violated. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 668

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Limited legislative sessions crippled planning and shifted lawmaking initiative to executives — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 4174; Legislatures expanded into fields courts once exclusively governed — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 455; Early state constitutions favored legislatures because governors embodied British rule — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 668 (+2 more)